Aloud
by 221B.B
Summary: A relatively small injury that should have simply been taken of develops into something just a tad more. Non-slash. Set during the Clone Wars.


A tiny one-shot that I _had_ to put into words, because there has always been and will always be something utterly special about Obi-Wan, Anakin and their relationship (which I, personally, don't view as slash). They're complicated and _deep_ on so many different levels, and I just... connect with them. Which may or may not make me look somewhat insane... no, definitely _may._ But still.

And, even though I don't flatter myself to believe I managed to portray said relationship well enough- you need to be awfully talented for that, and I'm aware my writing is by no means _talented_, but simply an outcome of the fact that I like to sit and write (and almost never have the confidence to post)- I do hope someone enjoys this one (:

**Disclaimer:** I do not, unfortunately, own either of the characters mentioned below, nor the brilliant world of Star Wars. It all belongs to the genius who calls himself George Lucas.

* * *

"Anakin-"

"Don't."

"_Anakin-_"

"Oh, in the name of-" Anakin huffed, glaring at his former master with an expression he feverishly hoped managed to convey his increasing exasperation, because he really did have better things to do at the moment than losing his composure. "What can possibly be unclear about the words _do not_?"

It was sort of admirable that even though half of his mentor's face was coated in blood - still oozing from a nasty looking gash directly above his left eyebrow and all the way down to his beard - Obi-Wan managed to give him a reprimanding look, his lips thinning as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I am perfectly capable of taking care of this myself, Anakin. It _is_ fine."

For the fifth time in two minutes? _Seriously?_

Something in Anakin cracked. Just a little bit, but it was more than enough.

His voice _might_ have been raised above what was normal or appropriate when he snapped, "_Force,_ master, this-" with his free hand he waved impatiently in the wound's direction - "is _not_ fine, so would you please be so kind as to _shut the hell up_ and let me kriffing clean it before it gets infected and _kills_ you?"

So much for keeping his carefully constructed mask of indifference on.

At least there was some satisfaction to be had in the slight dropping of Obi-Wan's jaw; one could be of the opinion that it was quite impossible to get "the Negotiator" stunned silly - said occurrences were indeed few and seldom occurring - and _still_ be putting it mildly. Obi-Wan just had that inner calm and pure strength in him, and it normally covered whatever small surprises where thrown in his way that he, by some small miracle, hadn't caught in time. Somewhere deep inside - deeper than usual - Anakin felt a tiny swell of pride and a not-so-small surge of amusement.

Obi-Wan just kept staring at him.

Content that he'd get some quiet for now - as much as possible, considering the fact that they were sitting on wooden boxes most likely filled with blasters or power backs in the middle of a post-battle field riddled with troopers and destroyed droids - Anakin muttered sarcastically, "Thank you," and focused back on the task at hand.

It didn't take him long to finish, now that the forehead beneath his fingers had stopped fidgeting. Glancing above his shoulder, the first clone his eyes came to rest on was, oddly, Cody. It seemed that every time Anakin needed him - or any other trooper, for that matter - Cody or Rex were there, and as much as it warmed his heart to have good men - and they _were_ good men - to rely on, it _did _scare him a little. Was he depending on them too much? If so, would it come to stab him in the back?

Force, he hoped not.

"Cody!"

The commander turned around, his helmet held between his right wrist and his waist. "General?"

"Could you do me a favor and get a bacta pad for Mr. Self-Preservation over here?" Anakin asked, tilting his head in Obi-Wan's direction. He didn't have to look in order to know his mentor was rolling his eyes. Good. He was getting tired of the silence anyway.

Yes, from time to time Anakin scared himself, too. Had he not been practically begging for quiet a minute before?

Cody's lips tugged upwards, but he didn't smile. All professional, as always. "Sure thing, sir," he said, turning around. Already in search of a medic or a healing droid, whoever of the two was closer.

Anakin's neck cranked as his eyes strayed back to Obi-Wan, whose face was, once again, passively calm. How did he manage to _do_ that when he looked as if he'd just been run over by an airspeeder?

The former master-and-padawan - now "The Hero with No Fear" and the "The Negotiator" - simply looked at each other for a few short moments. Anakin didn't need the Force to foresee that regardless of the quick spark of amusement in his mentor's eyes, Obi-Wan was about to go into his _Jedi Master_ Mode. Then -

"Don't _ever_ do that again."

Yep. So expected.

Not one of Anakin's face muscles moved. "Or you'd do… what? Not your padawan anymore, as you're well aware."

What Obi-Wan said afterwards wasn't one bit condescending, and Anakin _knew_ it; the words were uttered simply to make a point and not out of gloating, because that was just so... _not_ Obi-Wan that it was ridiculous to even consider it. His master wouldn't gloat over something like this _internally, _and if anyone _at all_ deserved to sit on the Jedi High Council, it was Obi-Wan - but they still cut at a part of Anakin that he'd rather just forget of.

"I still am,_ technically_, a master."

Yes, he was, even though they both knew it wasn't why Anakin kept on calling him that. "As if I could ever forget."

Something familiar flashed in Obi-Wan's eyes. "Pardon?"

This wasn't the time for that topic. "Nothing. Master, this wound - it's deep, alright? I wasn't - I'm _not _- overreacting, and I don't have anything better to do than make sure you don't pass out on me, so just - just let me take care of _you_, for once, and-"

And what?

The thing was, it didn't matter this wasn't the first time either of them was injured on a mission. It didn't really matter that they were fighting a war and not running a peace-keeping mission. It didn't even matter that Anakin was well aware his master would be fine, or that Obi-Wan was very much capable of taking care of himself, because - and that was what stood in the base of what bothered Anakin - that by no means meant he should _have _to. Force knew Obi-Wan did far beyond his fair share for the war effort, for the Republic, for the Jedi - and more often than not, all of those came at the expense of his most basic needs. And that - that drove Anakin _nuts._

Besides, the fact remained that it had always unsettled him to know his master _would_ be fine and _was_ not fine, and Anakin hated unsettlement. He hated uneasiness. And he _truly_ hated worrying for a former master whose self-preservation instincts were practically nonexistent.

And maybe… maybe he simply wanted to let Obi-Wan know he appreciated every time his mentor had taken care of _him _more than he could put into words. Maybe there was that.

And _maybe_ Anakin should have guessed he hadn't needed to finish the sentence, because his former master _knew_ him. Possibly not as well as he'd like, but he couldn't deny that Obi-Wan knew the parts of him that mattered more than anyone else besides Padme, and his eyes did soften at that. It was as if he recognized what Anakin was feeling…

Oh.

Good job with keeping the shields up - a task he'd been trained in since he was _nine years old_. Anakin almost wished a wall was in the near vicinity so he could crack his head against it. _Stupid._

He looked away, not even bothering to reinforce the shields in his mind. There were no Force-sensitive beings around outside of the two of them, and Anakin found that it wasn't the fact that he'd subconsciously let his shields down - even if just for a moment - that bothered him; he simply couldn't bring himself to look Obi-Wan in the eyes until he had control over his emotions again. Something about _T__here is no emotion, there is peace, _yes?

Obi-Wan sighed then, reaching out and clasping Anakin's wrist, squeezing gently. "Oh, Anakin-"

And _why_ did Anakin, despite the soothing edge of his former master's tone, get the feeling he was due for another lecture? "Not now, Master-"

He cut his own retort off when he felt Cody's presence behind him. Forcing a somewhat tight version of a polite smile, Anakin turned around.

Cody handed him a bacta pad, understanding in his dark eyes.

"Thank you, Commander." The propriety was somewhat… calming.

Cody nodded. "Yes, sir." And turned around, without another word. The clones might have been programmed genetically, but they weren't droids. Not only did they feel, but they were also oddly perceptive - a fact that was useful not only in the midst of a battle, when Anakin trusted them to have his back.

Anakin exhaled slowly and fixed his eyes back on that horrid gash. Obi-Wan could have lost an eye so _easily._ Just his luck to be around when a Super Battle droid decided to literally spontaneously combust with a big _boom_ and flying pieces of metal. Kriffing _brilliant._

Barely five seconds later his mentor was all patched-up and looking, outside of the obvious disturbance on his forehead, relatively… well, fine. That is, if one ignored the blackish shade of his face, the more-so-than-usual reddish one of his beard, his grazed in more than one place Jedi tunic and the rumpled state of his usually meticulously-neat hair.

And gazing at him with softness in his eyes that, regardless of the fact that Anakin knew had always been there and would always be, was seldom visible to the outsider.

"What?"

Obi-Wan opened his mouth - only to close it and shake his head slowly, as if he'd meant to say something but changed his mind in the last moment. "Nothing. It doesn't matter."

Anakin's eyes narrowed at him. "I think it does."

Obi-Wan just gave his wrist another squeeze - it was oddly soothing, that simple notion - and let go, standing up straight as if he really was utterly fine."It doesn't, Anakin… It really doesn't."

There was something... sad, about the way his mentor had said that; humming beneath the surface, not unlike a relaxing flood of the Force.

Anakin decided not to push.

He wouldn't push, and Obi-Wan wouldn't push.

It was a good if unspoken compromise, because for some reason he couldn't quite pinpoint, Anakin was pretty sure he knew what that small moment had been about - even if Obi-Wan wouldn't say it out loud; and, even though Anakin hadn't said it aloud, something in his former master's eyes had suggested he, too, knew what had caused Anakin's small crack.

They were _the Team, _as the HoloNet liked to portray them, just because of that. Just because sometimes things... didn't need to be put into actual words and said aloud for either of them to simply _know._

In the midst of the world fracturing around them, it was a _good_ thing to have.

Comforting.

Safe.


End file.
